Shambles

As little as possible... Shambles

Nicklaus used to put lead tape under his grips and also added lead to the tips to make his clubs heavier but not lose the swing weight or lose the swing balance. He definitely believed in the heavier club. There were also other less watched pros who added weight for their own comfort. I myself used to like a heavier club to keep my swing calm. Shambles

I counter weighted a set of Iron shafts in an attempt to save a very badly cut set by stabilizing them. The effect of counterweight is to bring the center of balance of the entire club up to a higher point on the shaft and I was only able to do so by adding 20+ grams per shaft to the butt end. At that point I had stabilized the set enough to know that that set would never serve and I disposed of the shafts as junk and rebuilt the irons with a new set of shafts. The tricky part of counter weighting is figuring out how much to add to have an effect that you can feel and see the difference of. Figuring out the amount of weight needed can be clumsy and tedious, and the results not necessarily worth the effort. I plan to never again resort to counter weights but plans can go awry at any time. Shambles

I'm thinking Photoshop. Shambles

To add: Tour pros and any top level player does not just send the ball way out there into the fairway. He looks for a favorable place for his second shot that will be comfortable and advantageous for a shot at the flag. This is one of the advantages of a long player. He does not need to shoot full every time even with a Driver in hand but is always shooting at a target. Shambles

This chat about grips has got me thinking about my own and I think it's about time for me to start using a reminder rib again. I guess I'll need to visit my club maker and ask him to install a set for me. Shambles

I hear you talking. Been there. I confronted the matter by doing those grip changes on course and watched my score climb for a while. However I also watched the ball and repetition gave me the confidence to do those changes with a reasonable expectation of the results. These days I adjust my grip to help a shot I want to make, but not all that often. Mostly when my game is already gone, or when I desperately need. If you accept a high score for a while, you can learn more effectively in actual play. Your cap will probably go bad but nobody is paying you for that anyway and if someone tries to take advantage, the skill is still there. Just resting for the moment while you build additional tools. If the score truly belongs to you, you will be able to get it back when you are ready, with the caveat that it will be more securely yours because of the added tools. Shambles

Jmiller, Just asking a clarification. When you say your left hand has gotten weaker, do you mean physically weaker or positionally weaker ? Frankly, I've never known anybody whose hand naturally got positionally weaker, but then it's not the kind of thing we would talk about over snacks and cold ones. Physically weaker I can sympathize with. I just got my left hand operated on and I can't grip for much weight these days, which I never expected to happen. Shambles

Obviously, if the shot is truly beyond you, it's always better to shoot for what you can handle. The question is, did you actually determine by trying on practice days, or did you just take the common wisdom as biblical. If you have a reliable carry and are aware of your roll out, the shot should be reasonably safe and you just need to identify the right landing area. Reading the green is not restricted to those guys who are already on the green. Further, one should also read the immediate surroundings of the green in case landing outside and bouncing or rolling in is a viable option. Limited skills does not excuse one from thinking his way through the round. It's all the more important to think your way through every stroke if you have very countable skills, and then work on expanding those skills at the range. Thus, when you look at a green that is within range, smart play would be to look for the safest way to send the ball towards the hole that is well within your skill level. The shot need not be fancy but it should be as well within as your skill level as you can find. Shambles

Trying to hole out from a hundred or more yards does not necessarily mean shooting directly at the pin. More often, it makes better sense to allow for the roll out and letting the ball go to the hole, thus your target landing is not the pin, but a part of the green that will let the ball go to the hole, or as close to it as possible. Check out Tiger's shot into the 18th green recently. That was not an accident, but it was an instance of correct thinking. Shambles

I'll take exception to that " ...not trying to make the shot..." portion. To my mind every shot should be trying to hole it if the green can be reached, if trying to hole it won't be too risky of falling off the dance floor. Sometimes you get lucky and it really should be a lifetime habit to put yourself into a position to benefit from a bit of luck. I would add that in trying to make the shot you also need to read the green as well as you can from a hundred yards away, which can be difficult. That's where course familiarity is an advantage, though the more obvious features such as slope, bumps and bulges ought to be visible. Shambles

I agree about staying off alcohol when the temps are high. It's a diuretic and slogging in the hot sun can be made more difficult with alcohol. These days I think even the sugar drinks are a bad idea. Water appears to be the best thing to take. I could probably enjoy a beer or two if the temps were in the 75's but the norm in my country is 80 and above and that makes alcohol a no no except in the clubhouse. Shambles

I grew old with electric guitars blasting. It's nice now that I can hear birds and insects when I Golf. I only turn on my stereo when I'm driving long distance and alone. I still like the electric guitars blasting but I also very much like the silence. I think music and other noises are a bad habit that needs to be out of the fairways. There is already more than enough noise in our daily lives and we need a space to appreciate silence too. Shambles

I like Staff bags and used them back when they were more available. With the giant heads on woods, and their covers these days, it's rather difficult to find the slot for a club. These days an 8" bag is about as large as you can have. That's probably because here in the Philippines, we get most of our bags from the States. There is no problem about the weight because we are required to hire a caddy per player regardless of walking or cart ride. The caddy acts as a diplomatic enforcer of club rules and is a witness if the club marshal's intervention is ever needed for player misbehavior. The caddy also picks up dropped or lost articles if they are seen along the way and hands them over to the flight ahead at the end of the round or earlier if the caddy from the flight ahead comes back looking for whatever was lost. Otherwise, just the norm of fixing divots and ball marks, cleaning the clubs and giving whatever information the player asks for. Shambles

I'll go with RookieBlue7 on this. There are things better done through people in the business as it only costs you money, and your total risk is the money you spend. This is one of them. Shambles

I played with a round rubber grip many years ago mostly because the putter grips available to me at that time were hard and slippery. I worked with it for a couple of months but, like Golfspy Dave, I found pointing the putter more mentally demanding and counter productive to a relaxed stroke. I subsequently installed a regular putter grip and scored it with a hacksaw blade so that I was better able to grip and point it. Shambles

Why not just layer up a color or colors you like with an air brush ? It still needs planning, patience and a bit of talent but it can be done at home. If you do it badly, nobody else needs to know. Shambles

If anyone actually bagged one he would be faced with the very real possibility of having it chip or break against the other clubs. Some of those rocks look to lean in that direction. Having said that, I think it might be fun to give a couple to friends or a tourney as a booby prize or a tease, if they didn't cost all that much. Shambles

Pulling a graphite shaft is no big deal if you have a spring loaded puller. That's because the moment the epoxy gives, the head goes out and you stop applying heat and just finish pulling the head off. Without the spring loaded shaft puller, you need experience and the knowledge of when to stop the heat and start pulling the head off. That can be acquired by watching someone else do the job and checking the amount of time he spends applying heat. Best solution is really to get yourself a spring loaded shaft puller. It's not a necessity but it makes pulling so much more simple. Shambles